MAYFIELD, Pa. -- A rare religious icon visited a church in our area on Wednesday, and hundreds of people came to see it.
People packed into St. John’s Russian Orthodox Church in Mayfield to see the icon.
Ellen Barna came with a copy of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God to visit the real thing. She said the icon cured her breast cancer.
“Because of my prayers to her I am in remission,” Barna said.
The icon is a picture of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus. It’s said to give off the holy scent of myrrh, and as soon as it entered the church, people could smell it.
“I mean, you look at the whole thing and there's nothing there to say what's causing this, but it's happening,” Carol Yankovich said.
Jean Fedak said she had a hip replacement and no longer needed to use a walker after visiting the icon.
“Within one month after my surgery, I was able to walk down the aisle,” Fedak said.
The icon travels the world, and once a year it stops here in Mayfield. People here say this is an experience they wouldn't want to miss.
“I believe in her. I go wherever she is, and I always take my icon with me when I go so that she can touch the icon,” Barna said.
“Miracles are reported almost after every service. Something comes up. There are volumes and volumes of miracles attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Father John Sorochka said.
At the height of the ceremony, people are anointed with the myrrh oil the icon gives off.
“You cannot believe how beautiful and how mesmerizing it is,” Yankovich said.
The icon won’t be at St. John’s Russian Orthodox Church in Mayfield for very long. It’s scheduled to leave Thursday morning.
